So I had a big long dissertation prepared about how I'm trying to achieve more depth in my pieces, how I'm working through my tricky relationship with layers and shading, and how I've been playing around with color saturation in an effort to work towards a more "mature" look, but in all honesty, this piece probably has the exact same look as all my others to an outside observer, so I'll just leave it with TOLKIEN ALWAYS COMES THROUGH FOR ME.

Gimli, Aragorn, and Legolas during their pursuit through Queenstown Rohan.

A few textures (another tumultuous relationship) from www.cgtextures.com.

I never knew there was such debate about Legolas's hair color. I'm perfectly happy either way, as long as the art is as awesome is this is This was one of my favorite parts in the book. Those three are just so darn noble and determined...

I really, REALLY love what that darker, out of focus layer of grass in the front does for the composition as well as the sense of motion-amidst-stillness in this piece. The diffusing brightness on the edges of the fabric lending them a silhouette-like quality really creates sooooo much of a mood, especially in contrast to the darker foreground and the more peachy edges of the sky. I also love how well their postures and the details of even things like what their hands are doing, which way they're leaning and how they're holding their weight - really communicate what they're thinking or feeling. This is really, really lovely, and I think you HAVE achieved a more mature look. The best part is that it's not forced - your art has genuinely grown.

I'm just so struck with them, I think you deserve to know someone else sees it too! Especially since I first started watching you like 7 years ago (post-HP withdrawals, you helped me process my grief, lol), you're one of my favorite dA artists, and I've learned a lot from seeing the subtle changes in your art over time! And to me, this piece shows a significant leap forward. It's smoothly maintaining your style, but leaps and bounds forward from even the pic of Thranduil and his wife, IMO. In details like the shading where you're being brave enough to use blue in Gimli's red, red on Aragorn's blue, yellow right next to blue/purple on Legolas's green, but with a light hand. It all just looks so natural but makes the light such a part of the scene! And how the lines are smooth and distinct but unobtrusive, even fading into the folds of Legolas's white sleeve with its highlights in such a natural way.

As I draw more and more I begin to recognize it takes HOURS to work every single detail like these, so having someone else even scratch the surface of seeing is always meaningful! And to me personally, since your art has always spoken to me and I feel like it's contributed a lot to my emotional experiences over the last 7 years, it's a big deal, too!

Also I have to say, I love knowing that you're a mother but that that doesn't suck the art out of your brain. I'm 25 right now and all my friends&fam agemates are starting families (I'll get there!), and it's so encouraging to see artists and writers and creative thinkers like me becoming mothers, and not becoming that stereotype of having to joylessly abandon their creativity. Yay!

Yeah, I mean, free time does dry up pretty quickly, and your brain is crammed with things like diapers and strollers and Cheerios, but I've found that art absolutely helps keep me sane! I draw comics about parenting at my blog, www.keepersoftheorb.blogspot.c….

I choose to make my Legolas half-Avari instead of full Sindarin, giving him dark coloring from his mother's side. I give Thranduil blonde hair because Tolkien explicitly states it, but I choose to imagine that he met his wife in the Greenwood rather than in Doriath, making her Avari, like in this piece I did not too long ago: deisi.deviantart.com/art/This-…

Yeah, I mean, Tolkien never says whether he's dark or light, and yes, Thranduil is light, but I've chosen to characterize him as dark, particularly to act as a foil to other high Elves, like Galadriel and Glorfindel. I'm kind of abnormally obsessed with Legolas' backstory.